Jemina Viirret, who graduated in 2024 from the Master’s program in Strategic Management in a Changing World, works as a strategy consultant at Deloitte.
Maija Lehner first completed a bachelor’s degree in Business Technology at Aalto University School of Business, then a double degree in the CEMS Global Management and Strategy master’s programmes.
School of Business, International Business Programme alum Kati Vilhelmsson encourages current students to actively seek international opportunities and trust the power of their networks.
Having built a long career in the retail sector, Sampo Päällysaho decided to update his skills through Open University, as retail management increasingly requires understanding of different topics.
Ella Ahmas, who studied in the Master's programme in Management and International Business, found her niche through the experience gained in internships and ended up working for the European Commission in her current role.
Henri Yoki, M.Sc. in both tech and business, founded his first company while studying international business at the School of Business. Today, he is the Founder and CEO of a company focusing on green energy transition. There, he gets to widely apply everything he learned during his career and studies.
The Aer family has been a part of the student population of the School of Business for four generations
‘Helsinki caught my attention as it was different from the typical locations my fellow students selected.’ says Michael Hanf who came to do exchange studies at the then Helsinki School of Economics in the end of 1990s. After that he has been working in Finland and Germany and currently is the co-founder of Taival Advisory, helping clients to consider sustainability and circularity in their strategic decision making.
Tomi Nyman, who works as National Manager at Hilti, says that social skills and mentality for continuous learning are the most important skills in today’s working life. That’s why the understanding of how I learn is the single most important lesson learnt at university. Nyman’s study combination, Management as a major and Finance as a minor, is especially useful in his current position.
‘It’s worth following your own interests and enthusiasm, because then there’s a better chance of really becoming good at something.’ says Niklas Huotari, a new School of Business Alumni Ambassador and the CEO of aTalent Recruiting.
‘I had never imagined myself working for a mobile game company until I started exploring this industry while writing my Master’s thesis,’ tells our alumna Wen-Hui Tu, who combined Management studies with more quantitative courses through Information and Service Management minor, and now works as an App Store Optimization Specialist at Next Games.
Our alumna Tiina Palmunen became interested in Kesko’s trainee program when she met with an HR representative of that company at Aalto Summer Job Day. At her current position as HR Specialist at Employee Responsibility at Kesko, she works with diversity and inclusion matters.
Alexei Koveshnikov, who is our alumnus and Associate Professor in Management and Organization at the School of Business, became also a member of our School’s Alumni Advisory Board in fall 2020. He encourages students to obtain meta-skills and meta-competences, which are invaluable in today’s business life.
The School of Business Alumni Advisory Board member Norbert Juhász studied in International Business and CEMS MIM master’s programmes. Aalto student community, business case competitions with fellow students and the possibility to study and live completely in English in Finland are very memorable to him. “Being an alumnus means being part of a community and being part of a shared history with that community.”
School of Business alumna Julia Österlund studied two different majors at school and thinks that the diverse studies benefit her in her current job: ‘It is also great that I can combine everything I have studied at school - marketing, communications, information technology and calculus.’
Our alumna Anne Tolonen always knew she would go to work abroad after studies. After spending over 5 years abroad in different management positions, she has learnt to appreciate inspiring and caring leadership manners.
Good communication and continuous learning were the most important takeaways for the MIB alumnus.
Diverse career opportunities and varying tasks got our alumna Essi Raitala interested in a career in the Ministry for Foreign Affairs. Currently, she is on her first posting at the Embassy of Finland in Nairobi.
Katariina Koskelainen studied in the School of Business during the years 2008–2013, leadership and management as her major. She works currently as a Senior Consultant at CIVITTA. We asked Katariina to share her insights on working as a consultant and how to pursue a consulting career.
The Ambassador of Finland to Israel, Kirsikka Lehto-Asikainen, is an alumna of the School of Business. As a student, she set her sights on becoming a citizen of the world and she has stayed the course ever since.
“For me, choosing the major subject was very difficult, as I did not want to delimit any options at the time when I was interested in many things”, reflects Mia Sirkiä, the School of Business Alumni Ambassador. She encourages students in similar situations: ”Think about your own interests and navigate according to those. True passion will lead to prosperity!”
“I applied to the Aalto University Mentoring Program, and I’m glad I did, since it benefited me a lot!” says the School of Business Alumni Ambassador Miikka Huhta. He emphasizes that the Mentoring Program is a good chance to get peer support from the other mentees.
“In the 1980s, the studies and academic life were separate from the business world, which was a disappointment for me. Now, the times have luckily changed and it is great to follow the dynamics of different Aalto University units. There are so many good things going on at the campus, and it seems to me like they have Slush every day”, says our alumnus Oskar Vahervuori.
Several different experiences and occasions from Aalto University have affected the employment of the School of Business alumnus Niklas Karvonen, who worked as a Business Design Manager at 16Lab in Tokyo in 2018-2019.
Currently Karvonen is working at a Tokyo-based coding bootcamp Code Chrysalis as a Marketing and Community Lead (2020).
Anna Pakkala was the 2018 Head of Sustainability at Slush. At the moment, Pakkala is working as a Brand Manager at Compensate (2020).
The Secretary General of the Association of Business Schools Finland, our alumnus Juuso Leivonen created a job out of his study-time activities at the student association.
Our alumna Elisa Liekkilä takes part in the School’s ARENA Career Fair on November 14 as the company representative of Tieto. “At the ARENA Career Fair, one can search for inspiration, knowledge, support and advice by getting to know different companies”, says Liekkilä.
Terttu Sopanen, a Senior Consultant at Brunnen Communications and a School of Business alumna is glad to be working in the field of communication: "We help our customers to be more impressive and to make results that are more visible."
Entrepreneur, our alumnus Tatu Mäkilä wants to support fresh entrepreneurs and help students to reach for their dreams.
"To me, being an alumnus means giving back, and thus, I am very pleased to help", says Mäkilä."
“Developing the resilience to adapt to possible changes and being ready to continue learning also after the graduation are huge assets in the working life”, reminds our alumna Susanna Hyppönen.
President of Sitra and School of Business alumnus Mikko Kosonen challenges students to plan their studies well. ”Tackling different challenges demands cooperation between the public and private sector, and it is no more enough to know only your own field well”, advises Kosonen.
Our alumna Emilia Rantala became accidentally part of one of the very first Aalto-level study projects at the newly formed university. Aalto on Waves took her from Lisbon over the Atlantic Ocean all the way to Brazil, and brought along a broad network and many new friendships.
Ambitious Minna Rissanen has gained a huge advantage from the interdisciplinary programs at Aalto University, and encourages current students to take on new subjects, also outside their own degree.
Aalto University School of Business alumna Sirpa Widomski appreciates the broad expertise and networking opportunities granted for the students in the Aalto University.
Maria Lehto has had an exciting career path to her current position as an Engagement Specialist at School of Business Premium Partner company, Konecranes. Even though the path didn’t always feel so straightforward, all experiences have played a part in her professional development. She would like to encourage young students to follow their own areas of interest and trust that it will lead them to the right direction in the end.
The programme prepares students to operate responsibly and successfully in influential decision-maker positions in a globalized environment.
Strategic Management in a Changing World is a unique Master’s programme that teaches students how to develop effective strategy in a rapidly changing world. Graduates are analytical decision-makers who can identify valuable business opportunities by evaluating of complex global megatrends such as sustainability, digitalization, and globalization. To action these new opportunities, the programme teaches students how to bring an entrepreneurial mindset into their organizations.
The Department of Management Studies offers a dynamic environment for scholarship and learning.
